Author: Hickmans Slim Kitchen

A married couple on a lifelong journey of being healthy.

Apple & Mincemeat Frangipane Pudding…

A pudding a day, keeps the bad craving at bay… is that right?… well that’s what I tell myself anyway. I love a pudding, sometimes don’t have room for one after having dinner but I do enjoy a sweet treat of an evening so often do smaller dinners so we can enjoy a cheeky treat every now and again.

I like to pair this with almond flavoured custard for a yummy dessert, simply add almond extract in replacement of the vanilla in our recipe that can be found here > Custard <.

Some recommended items from our kitchen to make this dish…

  • Double sided dry and liquid measuring spoons for times when you need to measure both liquid and dry ingredients.
  • Mixing bowls are always wanted in this household and these stackable ones save so much space in our cupboards.
  • An electric whisk.
  • All our dishes are Pyrex, great for most meals. Perfect for roasters too and easy to clean.

Don’t forget to take a pic of your dish and tag us over on Instagram or Facebook @hickmans_slim_kitchen we love to see the recreations.

Also please make sure you credit us when sharing our recipes on social media. You can do this by directly linking back to the blog or tagging our social media pages.

Thank you.

Please note some posts contain affiliate links, you can find out what that means here.

Apple & Mincemeat Frangipane Pudding

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
  • 4 tablespoons mincemeat
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
  • 1 teaspoon ground all spice
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 50g self-raising flour
  • 25g ground almonds
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 3g flaked almonds

METHOD:

  1. Preheat the oven 160°C fan.
  2. Place the sliced apple in an oven proof dish, sprinkle over the spices and dot the mincemeat throughout the dish.
  3. In a mixing bowl whisk the eggs, almond extract and sugar (leave a little sugar aside to sprinkle over the top once baked) until pale and fluffy and almost 3 times in volume (takes anywhere from 5 – 10 minutes so we advise using an electric whisk), when you remove the whisk it should leave a visible trail on the surface.
  4. Carefully sieve the flour, ground almonds and baking powder a little at a time into the beaten egg mixture and fold in carefully with a metal spoon, keep doing this in little bits to prevent lumps and knocking out too much air.
  5. Spoon the mix over the fruit and sprinkle over the flaked almonds.
  6. Bake in the oven for 40 – 45 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean.
  7. Sprinkle over the set aside sugar and serve with homemade custard for a yummy indulgent treat.

Hickmans Slim Kitchen

Curd Tarts…

You don’t just have to have jam or mincemeat in a tart, curd also works great too and there are so many different curds around in supermarkets and garden centres these days that there are so many different flavours you could choose.

You can also make your own curds to use in these tarts if you prefer. Use any flavour you like in these but remember to not over fill them.

Some recommended items from our kitchen to make this dish…

  • Double sided dry and liquid measuring spoons for times when you need to measure both liquid and dry ingredients.
  • Mixing bowls are always wanted in this household and these stackable ones save so much space in our cupboards.
  • Rolling pin, we use a stainless steel one as I make a lot of pastry and it can be put in the fridge to prevent pastry from getting so warm from warm hands and being handled so much. Best purchase I ever made for pastry.
  • Cake cooling racks, so handy to have.
  • Fluted cookie cutters.
  • Non stick tart tins

Don’t forget to take a pic of your dish and tag us over on Instagram or Facebook @hickmans_slim_kitchen we love to see the recreations.

Also please make sure you credit us when sharing our recipes on social media. You can do this by directly linking back to the blog or tagging our social media pages.

Thank you.

Please note some posts contain affiliate links, you can find out what that means here.

Curd Tarts

Makes 20

INGREDIENTS:

  • 150g plain flour
  • 75g Morrisons baking block (baking margarine)
  • 50g golden caster sugar
  • 1 medium egg yolk
  • Curd of your choice

METHOD:

  1. Start by making your pastry, make sure your hands are not too hot, if they are then run them under a cold tap for a few minutes to cool them down.
  2. In a mixing bowl add the flour and chop in the butter (make sure the butter has remained in the fridge so its not too soft). Rub the butter into the flour to resemble breadcrumbs.
  3. Stir through the sugar and make a well in the middle.
  4. Add the egg yolk and bring the mix into a dough, add a tablespoon of cold water if it is still dry and crumbly.
  5. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  6. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.
  7. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of a £1 coin and cut out as many circles as you can with a 2inch fluted cookie cutter. Gather the scraps and continue to cut out circles. You should get 20 to 22 tarts.
  8. If using a tray that isn’t non stick we advise greasing each hole of the tins.
  9. Gently press the pastry circles into the tins.
  10. Spoon 1 teaspoon of curd into each tart.
  11. Bake in the oven for 15 – 17 minutes or until lightly golden and the filling is bubbling.
  12. Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. This will allow the filling to set and pastry to harden.

NOTES:

  • Don’t be tempted to over fill the pastry cases as it will bubble over and make a mess.
  • These tarts will store in an air tight box for up to a week.

Hickmans Slim Kitchen

Mince Tarts…

It’s been a Christmas tradition since I was a little girl to make mince tarts, my grandparents used to wait for my last day of school and we would bake as many treats as we could for over the Christmas holidays, it is a tradition I have carried on with my own family and don’t intend stopping.

Kids love getting their hands dirty in the kitchen so letting them make the pastry keeps them out of mischief for 5 minutes so perfect excuse to get in the kitchen and bake with them.

Some recommended items from our kitchen to make this dish…

  • Double sided dry and liquid measuring spoons for times when you need to measure both liquid and dry ingredients.
  • Mixing bowls are always wanted in this household and these stackable ones save so much space in our cupboards.
  • Rolling pin, we use a stainless steel one as I make a lot of pastry and it can be put in the fridge to prevent pastry from getting so warm from warm hands and being handled so much. Best purchase I ever made for pastry.
  • Cake cooling racks, so handy to have.
  • Fluted cookie cutters.
  • Non stick tart tins

Don’t forget to take a pic of your dish and tag us over on Instagram or Facebook @hickmans_slim_kitchen we love to see the recreations.

Also please make sure you credit us when sharing our recipes on social media. You can do this by directly linking back to the blog or tagging our social media pages.

Thank you.

Please note some posts contain affiliate links, you can find out what that means here.

Mince Tarts

Makes 20

INGREDIENTS:

  • 150g plain flour
  • 75g Morrisons baking block (baking margarine)
  • 50g golden caster sugar
  • 1 medium egg yolk
  • Jar of sweet mincemeat

METHOD:

  1. Start by making your pastry, make sure your hands are not too hot, if they are then run them under a cold tap for a few minutes to cool them down.
  2. In a mixing bowl add the flour and chop in the butter (make sure the butter has remained in the fridge so its not too soft). Rub the butter into the flour to resemble breadcrumbs.
  3. Stir through the sugar and make a well in the middle.
  4. Add the egg yolk and bring the mix into a dough, add a tablespoon of cold water if it is still dry and crumbly.
  5. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  6. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.
  7. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of a £1 coin and cut out as many circles as you can with a 2inch fluted cookie cutter. Gather the scraps and continue to cut out circles. You should get 20 to 22 tarts.
  8. If using a tray that isn’t non stick we advise greasing each hole of the tins.
  9. Gently press the pastry circles into the tins.
  10. Spoon 1 teaspoon of mincemeat into each tart.
  11. Bake in the oven for 15 – 17 minutes or until lightly golden and the filling is bubbling.
  12. Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

NOTES:

  • Don’t be tempted to over fill the pastry cases as it will bubble over and make a mess.
  • These tarts will store in an air tight box for up to a week.

Hickmans Slim Kitchen

Pina Colada Baked Oatbran…

Pina Colada Baked Oatbran

INGREDIENTS:

  • 45g oatbran
  • 1 tablespoon TRKG pineapple and coconut syrup (See here for info on these syrups)
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 2 heaped tablespoons fat free greek yogurt
  • A few drops of rum flavouring
  • ½ tablespoon desiccated coconut
  • 2 teaspoons Hartleys pineapple jam
  • 1 slice fresh pineapple, core and skin removed
  • 1 glace cherry (Optional)

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven 180°C.
  2. Add the dry ingredients to a bowl and give a quick mix.
  3. In another bowl whisk the egg, syrup and coconut flavouring until pale, add the yogurt and mix.
  4. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients until well combined.
  5. Leave to soak for a few minutes.
  6. Add your pineapple to the bottom of your desired dish and add the cherry into the centre where the core of the pineapple was (if using).
  7. Pour your mixture into your desired dish leaving a few spoonful’s behind.
  8. Add the jam into the centre and cover the jam with the last few spoons of the mix.
  9. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
  10. Turn out the oatbran so the pineapple is on the top and enjoy.
  11. Can be enjoyed hot or cold.

Hickmans Slim Kitchen

Cranberry & Orange Breakfast Bars…

Cranberry & Orange Breakfast Bars

INGREDIENTS:

  • 45g oatbran
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon 0% fat free Greek yogurt
  • 30g dried cranberries
  • 1 tablespoon TRKG orange syrup (See here for info on these syrups)
  • Optional: 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Optional: 1 teaspoon soft brown sugar

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven 180°C fan.
  2. Add the dry ingredients to a bowl (if using the cinnamon add this in this step too) and give a quick mix.
  3. In a bowl whisk the egg and syrup until pale, add the yogurt and mix.
  4. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients until well combined.
  5. Leave to soak for a few minutes.
  6. Pour your mixture into your desired dish.
  7. Bake in the oven for 23 – 25 minutes.

NOTES:

  • These can be enjoyed hot or cold, simply slice and enjoy.
  • You can make them ahead and store in an airtight container, these should last up to 3 days so ideal for batch cooking for days you want to grab and go.

Hickmans Slim Kitchen

Lemon Shortbread…

Had some lemons that needed using and usually I would make some lemon curd or a cake, however we had no eggs and both of those require lots of eggs so instead made these yummy biscuits. They are one of Shane’s weaknesses, he can never say no when he is offered shortbread so thought he would enjoy a couple with a brew when he got home from work. This made 24 biscuits so half were taken into work with Shane and apparently they didn’t even last until their first tea break, everyone scoffed the lot and asked for more.

Now this recipe calls for full fat butter, I highly recommend you do not swap it for low fat as it will not be the same, it needs the full fat content in order to achieve these buttery biscuits.

You can also add in some fresh thyme, rosemary, mint or even some lavender if you wish, or how about swapping the lemon for lime, grapefruit or even orange? All will be equally as nice.

Some recommended items from our kitchen to make this dish…

  • Double sided dry and liquid measuring spoons for times when you need to measure both liquid and dry ingredients.
  • Mixing bowls are always wanted in this household and these stackable ones save so much space in our cupboards.
  • Cake cooling racks, so handy to have.
  • We have a Kitchen Aid mixer, the best mixer we have ever owned, highly recommend investing in one of these if you love baking.
  • A baking tin roughly 27cm x 18cm, this one is the closest size to ours.

Don’t forget to take a pic of your dish and tag us over on Instagram or Facebook @hickmans_slim_kitchen we love to see the recreations.

Also please make sure you credit us when sharing our recipes on social media. You can do this by directly linking back to the blog or tagging our social media pages.

Thank you.

Please note some posts contain affiliate links, you can find out what that means here.

Lemon Shortbread

Makes 24

Ingredients:

  • 300g plain flour
  • 200g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
  • Pinch of salt

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.
  2. Beat the butter, lemon extract and the sugar (leave about a tablespoon of sugar aside for now) until pale and fluffy.
  3. Sieve in the flour and add the zest of the lemons and bring the mixture to a soft dough making sure no traces of flour are visible, don’t over work the mix.
  4. Line the baking tray with baking parchment and tip in the dough, evenly spread the dough all over.
  5. Take a fork and poke down in lines across the dough, sprinkle over the remaining sugar we set aside and bake in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes or until lightly golden.
  6. Take out the oven and carefully score the dough into 24 pieces while its still warm, allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to fully cool.
  7. The biscuits will harden once they are cold so be careful when moving them from the tray to the rack, I leave ours on the baking paper and slide them across in one go rather than taking them off individually.

NOTES:

  • These last up to 4 days in an airtight container.

Hickmans Slim Kitchen
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